John Thune

White House reportedly agrees to 'technical edits'

(Newser) -
The saga over whether the White House will or won't release "the memo" may be over on Friday. Multiple reports—including at Fox News , ABC News , and the Washington Post —say President Trump has read the document and is set to release it. The White House, however,...
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President attacked Democratic candidate for Senate without endorsing his opponent, Roy Moore

(Newser) -
President Trump once again made his opinions known about next month's special election for the Alabama Senate seat, but once again he did so without explicitly endorsing the embattled Republican nominee, Roy Moore. On Sunday morning, Trump tweeted a scathing attack on Moore's Democratic rival, Doug Jones, calling...
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Ezra Klein: White House aims to expose Republican 'intransigence'

(Newser) -
President Obama's budget proposal is the latest move in his administration's "systematic" effort to expose flimsy GOP excuses for government inaction, writes Ezra Klein in the Washington Post . Republicans had complained that Obama didn't extend a hand to them; now, he's constantly meeting with them....
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Reince Priebus says debate ought to be respectful, but marriage for one man, one woman

(Newser) -
Gay marriage, a topic of some small amount of discussion this week, ruled the talk shows today, with RNC Chair Reince Priebus tackling the subject head-on : "People in this country, no matter straight or gay, deserve dignity and respect. However, that doesn't mean it carries on to marriage,...
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Leaders dusting off rule books, readying for big fight

(Newser) -
For much of American history, brokered conventions were the norm, but the two big parties have not had one since Democrats chose Adlai Stevenson in 1952. The Republicans' last brokered convention was 1948 when they picked Thomas Dewey (Gerald Ford beat Ronald Reagan on the first ballot in 1976). But...
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Says he'll match them, and 'even go 3 for 1 for McConnell'

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Warren Buffett's ready to donate money to pay down the national debt—provided Republicans lawmakers do so first. When Buffett called for higher taxes on the rich last year, Mitch McConnell and many other Republicans told him to " send in a check ," and John Thune even introduced...
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Says he'd rather foster consensus

(Newser) -
Lamar Alexander will give up his post as Republican Conference chairman—the party’s third-ranking Senate position—in January, and with it his hope of being the Senate GOP whip in the next Congress, he announced today, in what Politico calls a "stunning decision." Alexander says he’s...
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Thune's decision not to run creates a historical oddity

(Newser) -
John Thune’s announcement that he’ll sit out the 2012 presidential race leaves the field bereft of a current sitting lawmaker—something that hasn’t happened since 1904. Typically some senator or other has his eyes on the prize, but right now the GOP’s frothing with so much...
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South Dakota senator says he'll keep his day job

(Newser) -
The 2012 crop of GOP presidential candidates got a little smaller today: South Dakota Sen. John Thune announced on Facebook that he's not running. After "lots of prayer," he decided that he'll stay put and "fight for America’s future here in the trenches of the United...
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Sen. John Thune: Democrats can't keep ignoring reality forever

(Newser) -
The Republicans' bid to repeal Obamacare might have failed in the Senate , but the GOP's John Thune thinks Democrats are going to have to face reality about this "awful" bill eventually. Most Americans don't like it, he says—finding a poll to back him up, as folks on both...
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Tea Partiers hate it, mainstream contenders support it

(Newser) -
There’s still a while to go before the official 2012 debates begin—but we have the first unofficial one on our hands, in the form of President Obama’s tax deal. Despite strong support in a vote Monday (only five Republican senators voted against it), 2012 contenders are drawing...
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Palin, Huckabee, Romney, and Gingrich frontrunners for 2012

(Newser) -
Sarah Palin's Alaska would choose Mike Huckabee, Newt Gingrich, or Mitt Romney over her in a GOP primary for 2012, according to a recent series of Public Policy Polling surveys. The four candidates were the top four choices in 17 of the 18 states surveyed, with Palin coming first in...
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South Dakota senator defeated Tom Daschle

(Newser) -
Add another name to the list of Republican contenders in 2012: John Thune, the South Dakota senator probably best known for defeating Tom Daschle in 2004. The 49-year-old gets anointed via the cover treatment in the Weekly Standard , telling Stephen Hayes for a lengthy profile that he's taking a "...
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Potential nominee: John McCain (yes, that John McCain)

(Newser) -
Republicans, are you ready to repeat the McCain-Obama showdown? No? Well, the National Republican Senatorial Committee figured it ought to check, just to be sure. The NRSC, which you would think would be busy working on 2010 Senate campaigns, sent a questionnaire to its supporters asking which presidential candidate they’...
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Nice-guy populist eyed as 2012 contender

(Newser) -
The junior senator from South Dakota is starting to get a lot of attention from the less hysterical sections of the GOP as the party seeks to build on recent successes, writes David Brooks . John Thune never sounds like he's auditioning for a spot on talk radio, but instead puts...
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But lefties ripped GOP senators for nay votes

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When 30 Republicans voted against an Al Franken amendment prohibiting defense contractors from forcing their employees to agree not to sue if they’re raped, Jon Stewart and liberals everywhere went ballistic. But those 30 Republicans weren’t alone, the Huffington Post reports; the Defense Department opposed the amendment as...
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Opponents hope long debate will force voters to 'understand this thing'

(Newser) -
Lacking the votes for a filibuster and increasingly resigned to the fact that Democrats will stand united, GOP senators have a novel strategy to stall the health care reform bill: They’re going to stall it however they can. The Democratic plan “is inconsistent with the American people,”...
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Schumer leads effort to quash Thune amendment

(Newser) -
Senate Democrats today narrowly defeated a measure that would have let concealed weapons be transported across state lines, the Hill reports. The amendment, which required 60 votes to pass according to a prior, bipartisan agreement, went down 58-39. Sen. Charles Schumer and majority whip Dick Durbin fought hard to drum...
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Policy Committee slot is No. 4 in party's Senate hierarchy

(Newser) -
Republicans today elected Sen. John Thune to the leadership post vacated by Sen. John Ensign, who stepped down after admitting last week to an extramarital affair with a campaign aide. Thune will lead the Senate Republican Policy Committee, the No. 4 position in the leadership, and play a role in...
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